Controllable in-situ growth of 3D villose TiO2 architectures on carbon textiles as flexible anode for advanced lithium-ion batteries

• Published in: Materials letters 2018-10, Vol.229, p.122-125
• Main Authors: Xia, Yu, Xiong, Wan-Sheng, Jiang, Yun, Zhou, Si-Yu, Hu, Cheng-Long, He, Rong-Xiang, Sang, Hong-Qian, Chen, Bolei, Liu, Yumin, Zhao, Xing-Zhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addition polymerization; Carbon; Carbon textile; Controllable TiO2 architecture; Flexible anode; In-situ growth; Lithium; Lithium-ion batteries; Lithium-ion battery; Materials science; Reagents; Rechargeable batteries; Textiles; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2018.06.093

•The novel flexible 3D TiO2 electrode was synthesized by hydrothermal method.•Carbon textiles severed as current collectors due to its superior conductivity and flexibility.•The morphologies of TiO2 were controlled by adjusting the volume ratio of H2O and DEG.•The TiO2 electrode delivered a reversible capacity of 190.8 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at a rate of 4 C.•The flexible electrode could retain approximately 88% of its initial capacity after 2000 cycles at 40 C rate. Controllable three-dimensional villose titanium dioxide architectures grown on carbon textiles are fabricated by a facile one-step in-situ hydrothermal method at low temperatures. It has in fact been proven to be an effective method to reduce self-aggregation and promote lithium-ion intercalate/extract via building 3D architectures based on 2D conductive materials. More importantly, the freestanding electrodes without any addition of conductive agents and polymeric binders reveal significant improvement in high-rate capacity and cycling performance.